Congratulations, Urban Missiology!
We are thrilled to announce that Urban Missiology (UM) has been chosen to participate in the highly esteemed Lilly Foundation program, the Preaching for Change Initiative, sponsored by NEXT Church. This is a significant recognition of UM's unwavering commitment to social change and transformation, and we couldn't be prouder.[1]. The members of the Urban Missiology Preaching for Change Organizational Cohort are:
Rev. Phyllis Byrd (Kenya)
Rev. Dr. Marsha Snulligan Haney (Georgia)
Rev. Cheri Hicks (Georgia)
Rev. Dr. Wanda Lundy (New Jersey)
Rev. Dr. Marvin Morgan (Maryland)
Imam Michael Saahir (Indiana)
Rev. Dr. Moses Woodruff, Jr. (Georgia)
As an educational organization, UM’s mission is to dynamically promote social change and transformation. We partner with individuals, communities, and institutions to improve their quality of life as they desire by providing motivation, information, and training. Our board members, who serve as consultants, represent a variety of passions, interests, concerns, and faiths. They are crucial in guiding our initiatives and ensuring we stay true to our mission. We are united in our desire to see healthy people, organizations, faith communities, and neighborhoods worldwide—in heart, mind, body, and spirit.
We are excited about this opportunity to engage with NEXT Church as an organizational cohort because, in our four years of growth, we now know what we need in terms of internal organizational development in critical areas to be a catalyst for empowering communities. As a volunteer organization, our ears are to the ground, and we are listening to learn how to serve you better, our readers, and the communities in which you live, work, study, play, and worship. In addition to providing this website, which was designed to encourage people to tell their personal and professional stories about social change and transformation, we offer the Urban Café an opportunity to discuss relevant themes and topics presented by invested and exciting people, ranging from intergenerational financial planning to multicultural congregations to environmental justice concerns.
While we know the many challenges people face in communities, internally, we must understand how to build online management skills that will allow us to offer both online and in-person educational workshops and seminars, develop the internal structures to support our growing vision, and communication processes that will enable us to mobilize volunteers, bring together concerned individuals in local communities, and have more significant impacts. For instance, four groups of people have expressed a desire to partner with UM, and in 2025 our goal is to obtain a grant writer to help us respond to these critical needs:
1. People with Disabilities living in Poverty: When we assess the needs of the disabled population, we must critically respond to the needs (especially the spiritual needs) of the family and caregivers.
2. Youth and Young People: We need to address the needs of the student who makes the “C” grade—the student who is not the honor student or the student who is failing but the neglected student “in the middle.”
3. Lonely People: The number of lonely people who need to hear a caring voice or email is growing, especially among older people, the parentless, and children in foster care.
4. Theological Education: Because many of our board members are theologically educated, there is a desire to partner with theological education in a creative, mutually satisfying relationship.
We are planning to seek grants, and we would greatly appreciate your guidance if you have a successful track record in this area. We also invite you to share your personal stories on our website or present a topic of interest during one of our 2025 Urban Café sessions. Your contributions are not just welcome, but they are invaluable to us and integral to the success of our mission.
Have you seen our revamped website? Thanks to the dedicated work of Mr. Jason Ellington, founder and CEO of Remeoner Design Professionals, we're excited about the fresh look and improved functionality. We believe the new website will not only engage you but also provide you with more informative content, enhancing your experience with UM.
Blessings to you during Advent, a time of spiritual anticipation, and this season of faith holidays. May we encounter God, as God is known to us, and the people of God with joy, hope, and peace.
Grace,
Marsha
[1]Preaching for Change
According to their website, “At NEXT Church, we know there is something powerful when a group of people from various backgrounds, contexts, and lived experiences gather to courageously engage together. The Preaching for Change Initiative stands at the intersection of what we believe and how we engage in the world in order to fully embody the radical call of faith. This five-year Lilly Endowment funded initiative will gather diverse cohorts of preachers and church leaders across the NEXT Church network who are leading congregations toward transformation in their communities, with a particular focus on justice and equity”. www.nextchurch.net.
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